skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

The latest on the Key Bridge collapse, New York puts forth legislation to get clean energy projects on the grid and Wisconsin and other states join a federal summer food program to help feed kids across the country.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Republicans float conspiracy theories on the collapse of Baltimore's Key Bridge, South Carolina s congressional elections will use a map ruled unconstitutional, and the Senate schedules an impeachment trial for Homeland Secretary Myorkas.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

Will Illinois Climb Aboard Right-to-Work Bandwagon?

play audio
Play

Wednesday, March 4, 2015   

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. - States around the Midwest are joining the right-to-work bandwagon, but the question remains whether Illinois will climb aboard.

Right-to-work prohibits workers from being required to join or pay money to a union as a condition of employment. Gov. Bruce Rauner said it would boost the economy and spur job creation, but University of Illinois labor professor Robert Bruno disagreed. He has researched the issue and said workers would suffer an average income loss of 3 percent.

"The portion of the state's economy that consisted of income paid to workers would fall dramatically, and over a 10-year period, upwards of $40 billion would be lost," Bruno said. "At the same time, we found that the state would lose billions of dollars in tax revenues."

Bruno said the poverty rate would increase by at least 1 percent, and fewer workers would have savings for health insurance and retirement.

Indiana, Iowa and Michigan have adopted right-to-work laws, and bills are pending in Wisconsin and Missouri.

Bruno said poorer right-to-work states are being supported by the higher income tax revenues generated by workers in collective-bargaining states.

"The amount of government assistance that's going to workers in a right-to-work state is higher than in a collective-bargaining state, while at the same time workers in that right-to-work state are contributing less in tax revenue," he said. "So we see that as a kind of subsidy that the collective-bargaining states are carrying."

The research found a slight increase in the employment rate in right-to-work states, but Bruno said it comes at the expense of lower workforce participation. Meanwhile, Rauner said it's a matter of choice and empowerment. He recently signed an executive order banning public-sector unions from requiring state workers to pay union dues.

Bruno's research is online at ler.illinois.edu.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

Social Issues

play sound

A 2023 study from the University of Nebraska Medical Center concluded the number of Nebraskans with a mental health or substance abuse disorder has pr…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021